Defeat That Defeatist Attitude
Do you find that whenever you’re faced with the task of working on something creative, you’re immediately met with a defeatist attitude either by you or someone else?
That attitude is actually doing more to prevent you from succeeding than you realize. A lot of friends and colleagues in my life often lament about ‘wanting’ to start work on a new book, or ‘wanting’ to start painting more, blah blah blah. Yet, whenever I recommend ways for them to start work on their creative project the answer is ALWAYS the same:
“I don’t have enough time.”
People… you have to MAKE the time. You have many hours in the day, and I think if you sit down and analyze how you’re spending your time, you’d find that there’s many different ways to squeeze some creative work in. I wrote about 5 Ways To Use Your Creative Time More Efficiently, but this doesn’t mean anything if you immediately have a defeatist attitude.
Perhaps you’re afraid of rejection or what people will think of what you’ve done after it’s finished. Perhaps you’re afraid that you’re not good enough, or that what you’d create won’t turn out how you’d like.
Regardless of what the reason may be, the number one thing stopping you from even starting in the first place is your attitude surrounding your work and your insecurities.
The first battle any creative person must overcome, is just starting. It’s hard, I know, trust me, but winning this battle is made all the more challenging when you at negative about it in the first place.
Consider this moment your permission slip to start working on something today. Start your book. Start your script. Start that painting. Just-start. Instead of immediately saying you don’t have time for something, or that you don’t have the right supplies to begin, or you’re not set up for success in some way, just take a look around you, take a deep breath and set a small doable action for yourself.
In the words of Ralph Waldo Emerson, “Every artist was first an amateur.”
Don’t be afraid to be an amateur. It’s part of the journey. It’s part of the path. Lace up your shoes and start today.
Originally published at http://betterweekly.ca on August 22, 2020.
